Unconditionally Yours
by vibrant serendipity
Summary: Is it easy for a womanizing and potentially alcoholic bachelor to change his ways and settle down once and for all? What does it take for Gene to realize the error of his ways and change before Melfina can't take it anymore?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey there! Well thanks for takin the time to read this lil fic that I wrote. I hope that you like it, its the first fanfic I have ever written so please be kind ) but dont be afraid to let me know what you think k? Oh ya, and I guess I better say this too: I do not own Outlaw Star or any of its characters

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The stars began to flicker softly, slowly dimming in their brightness as a young woman blankly glanced through one of the various windows of the red grappler ship. She sighed softly unable to understand the feelings of restlessness and foreboding emptiness that were beginning to sweep through her. It had been months since the fateful event at the Lay-line, and things had only barely begun to progress into a steady routine of regularity for herself and the crew of the Outlaw Star. As the gentle bio-android continued to rummage through the extent of her emotions, she realized that even though the events at the Lay-line had preordained a new fulfilling life for herself, the present circumstances were beginning to prove her initial assumptions wrong. Things were nothing like what she had initially envisioned upon freeing her destiny from that of the Lay-line. The love of her life was still as inconsiderate as ever and even though his past actions had proven his feelings for her, his present attitude towards her made it quite difficult for her to believe that he had ever felt anything for her in the first place. Every action he took confused her, every word he told her made her heart sink a little deeper. It was like she didn't exist in his eyes other than to serve as the Outlaw Star's navigator and cook. As the deepening sorrow grew within her, she began to wonder if these sorts of emotions were normal or if they pertained solely to her artificial form.

Pressing her forehead against the cool glass, she closed her eyes and silently prayed that the future would blossom into the fulfilling and joyous life she had been promised. How long must she wait? How much more must she hurt before she gains that little patch of happiness she had been patiently waiting for? She quietly asked the empty space for the answers she knew she would not receive. As the disappointment of her present circumstances flowed into her being, she began to feel her eyes water. The tears began to fall swiftly and steadily. Being unable to fully grasp the intensity of the emotions surging through her, she slowly slid onto the floor hugging her knees as she began to sob.

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Staring at the blank ceiling of his room, Gene found the emptiness of the room increasingly unbearable. Ever since the night he had shared his bed with Melfina a few weeks ago, he had been unable to sleep soundly. Remembering the event, Gene couldn't help but recall the softness of her naked flesh and the warmth of her kisses. The intensity of her surrender during their lovemaking was blinding and left an invisible mark on Gene's soul that branded him forever as hers. It had taken weeks for him to force himself to wash his sheets due to his unwillingness to erase her scent from his bed. After that night, only images of Melfina's hauntingly beautiful form clothed in only the faintest starlight flooded his mind. So intense was his recollection of that night that if he closed his eyes he could still feel the warmth of her artificial body on his very skin and taste the sweetness of her lips against his own.

Gene shifted uncomfortably in his bed as he attempted to shut out the memories of their night together. Those memories were like a river being pushed back by a dam; once one small part of it is released the rest breaks through and engulfs everything in its path like a flood. It was the intensity of those feelings for Melfina and the depth of the connection he now shared with her that has utterly scared him. Never in his life had he faced the abandon and complete surrender that Melfina had showed him that night. And worst of all, never in his life had he desired or dared to even consider surrendering the entirety of his self to another woman like he had when he was enveloped in Melfina's being. His past had taught him countless times that giving yourself fully and unconditionally to another was usually a very dangerous game of chance that would most likely result in pain.

But yet, he could not shake the urge to do so with this enchantingly delicate bio-android. It wasn't even the desire to give into the total abandon of his heart that scared him, it was the intensity of this desire that has truly frightened him to the point of pulling away from the one person that made him happy. The voice of reason and wisdom that had always protected him from possible actions that might cause him pain was warning him that to give into this desire meant exposing the trembling orphan full of uncertainty that was part of the true Gene Starwind along with the rest of his weaknesses and glory to another individual. And that was just something that Gene wasn't sure if he was ready to do.

As Gene continued to calm the internal struggle being waged within him, he began to hear a strange noise coming from outside of his bedroom. Slowly climbing out of bed, he reached for his gun and carefully began to make his way to the door. He placed his ear against the cold metal and concentrated on deciphering the odd noise being emitted from the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

"Melfina? Is that you?"

"W-Who's t-there?" she replied shakily, quickly wiping away the tears that had streamed down her cheeks. She tried to adjust her blurry vision to see the individual who had called out to her.

"Melfina, are you…are you crying?"

"G-Gene…?"

Gene dropped his gun on the floor and quickly made his way towards her after seeing the gleam from her tear-filled eyes. He bent down towards her and placed a hand on her still wet cheek. Gently lifting her face, he attempted to look into her eyes but came to face only her averted glance.

"Melfina, please look at me…" he said softly.

The softness of his voice moved Melfina and she slowly forced herself to look at him despite the embarrassment she felt at being caught in the state she was in. As her gaze slowly met his, Gene felt his heart drop as he saw the pain reflected in her bloodshot eyes.

"What's wrong, Mel? Why are crying out here all alone in the dark?" Gene asked, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

Once she saw the worry cross his face, she couldn't take it anymore. It was always the same cycle of events with him. She would hurt, he would care, then she would be content and he would be aloof. She knew that she couldn't dance these endless waltzes of emotions and stages of being loved for much longer. Her heart just wouldn't be able to handle another let down after being given another small scrap of affection.

"It's nothing, Gene. I'm fine really I am. I just had a nightmare that shook me up. Nothing more." She gave a feeble smile, "See I'm fine now. Really I am."

She removed his hand from her face and quickly stood. Wiping away the imaginary dust on her nightgown, she continued to smile and give her excuses all the while refusing to look Gene in the eyes. "Well its late and I have to wake up early to make breakfast for everyone so I better go to bed now. Sorry for waking you so unnecessarily, Gene."

She smile once more and turned her back to him, feeling the remains of her wounded heart begin to slowly crumble at his nearness. As she took her first step away from him, she was suddenly stopped.

"Mel, you know after hanging around hooligans like us for as long as you have, you haven't picked up the art of lying yet, you know," Gene said with a small crooked smile. Melfina forced herself to not turn around. Suddenly, Gene's grip on her wrist slightly tightened and his voice softened, "I know something's wrong and I know that you're hurting real bad right now."

As those words left Gene's lips, Melfina could feel her breath catch in her throat. She could feel the oncoming barrage of tears beginning to well up in her eyes. As she continued trying to hold back the tears and contain the sob that was threatening to escape her throat, she could feel Gene release her wrist and grab a hold of her hand.

"And I'm pretty sure that I'm the jerk that is causin' you this hurt, too."

At the admission of fault, Melfina immediately raised her free arm to hide the tears that had begun to freely fall down her face. As the intensity of the pain continued to rise, Melfina could do nothing but fall to her knees as the sobs racked her body.

This display of sorrow cut Gene deeper than any injury he had ever sustained in any of his violent encounters. As he stared at the small form kneeling beneath him, he was taken back by how deeply he had injured the beautiful creature that had risked his life to save by his insecurity and indecisiveness. Gene immediately sank back to his knees and pulled the sobbing girl into his arms. Running his hands soothingly over her back he began to speak softly to her, "Aw damnit, it seems like the only thing I'm good at is makin' you cry, Mel…. Look, you may not believe me but I'm real sorry for the hurt that I've caused you. I'm such an idiot for being such a selfish prick and ignoring you the way I have."

With this apology, Melfina raised her tear stained face. She tried to speak through her sobs,"S-so y-you were aware of the w-way you were treating m-me, G-Gene?"

A wave of anger suddenly swept through her as more tears began to stream down her cheeks. She buried her head in his chest as her hands tightened into small fists. "Y-you knew you were hurting me and y-you kept doing it?!"

Her sobs grew more erratic as her voice gained more volume. "Why Gene?!"

Melfina began to cry uncontrollably. Her sobs prevented her from speaking coherently and she had begun to punch Gene in the chest as she continued, "You jerk, Gene! Why?! Why hurt me?! …Why hurt me???"

Gene allowed Melfina to continue hitting him while he tightened his embrace around her until her sobs began to quiet down to a faint whimper. Softly stroking her hair, Gene whispered, "Mel…I'm so sorry Mel. I didn't mean to hurt you… It's just that…It's just that after that night we spent together…"

He couldn't bring himself to expose his fears to her. He knew that that was what she needed to know, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to divulge those insecurities. Gene was roused from his internal struggle by Melfina pushing his arms off of her and sitting up, facing him eye to eye.

"A-after that night, what Gene?"

_Oh man…how do I tell her? What a brave guy I am right? Oh damnit it all to hell!_ Gene placed a hand on her reddened face and gently whipped away a few of the tears with his thumb as he softly caressed her face. _You'll lose her if you don't man up and say something, you moron._

"I-I was…I was scared. The way I felt that night with you…well….it umm….it s-scared me. I had never felt that way before. I had never had anyone surrender themselves so completely like you that night. And that scared me…"

Gene fell silent after that statement, unsure of the correctness of his divulgence.

"So I scared you, Gene?" Melfina couldn't hide the confusion and the hurt in her eyes as she looked at Gene. Gene was caught off-guard by her response. He gazed into her eyes and put his hands on her shoulders.

"No Mel! _You_ didn't scare me, silly." Gene responded quickly trying to clarify things before they got even muddier. He bent down and gently kissed away one of the tears that had just fallen down her face. His hands moved from her shoulders up to her neck as he whispered.

"I scared myself." He proceeded to kiss away another one of her tears.

"The way you gave yourself to me so unconditionally and completely made me want to…well, it made me want to give you everything as well." He moved to kiss more tears that had fallen on her other cheek, while his hands began to slowly caress her neck.

"I had never felt that way with another woman, Melfina. And I wasn't sure if I would be able to give myself as completely as you had." He began to trail small and light kisses towards her now closed eyes.

"What I felt that night…was like….nothing I had ever…felt before." Gene moved to kiss the tip of her nose as his fingers moved up her neck until they cupped her now flushed face.

"Melfina…Melfina look at me please."

Melfina opened her eyes only to find Gene's face only an inch away from hers. She could feel his steady breath on her skin. His blue eyes were glazed over with a strange brightness that she couldn't quite describe. His lips temptingly close to her own.

"Melfina, please forgive me for…for not showing you how much I-I love…I love you." With those words, Gene softly kissed Melfina.

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Author's Note: Hey there! Well if you've gotten this far than I gotta thank you for takin the time to read my little story here. I know I cut off the chapter kinda abruptly but I was planning on writing a lemon or something very close to that nature in the next chapter, so I just thought I'd give you guys a heads up. Thanks again for reading! 


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